Goals for 2011

Last year I had one primary goal, that being the Death Race in the middle of the summer. That didn't work out so well for the months after the Death Race in terms of maintaining my fitness as well as a few other things in life, because I find that maintaining a runnin goal helps me keep the rest of my life balanced.

Yes I will have a few specific races which will be my primary goal races, but I will run more races with the intent of keeping myself occupied because idle hands seem to be the devil's playground.

So.... goals.

1. Finish my degree.
2. Don't do any drugs.
3. Finish the Schorched Sole 50 mile race in under 9:30
4. Finish the Fat Dog 100 mile race in under 32 hours.
5. Run every day.

Number one and two will be the hardest, but I think if I can manage to maintain those two goals I can be much more likely at succeeding at the other two and just be better off in general. And to do these things I am going to try and maintain a slightly different schedule of running for the year. I know that running helps me through my days, helping me have tike to reflect on the day that was and the days to come when I go running, it clears my head. So if I run more often I feel as though I will be more likely to be able to stay focused on my first two goals. This is where goal number five comes in, even if it's only going for a 5 minute run around the block I want to try and do that.

In terms of the 50 mile race I think I can quite easily achieve the time goal. I ran the race in 10:05 in 2010 and apparently the route will be slightly easier in 2011 so if I maintain a similar training plan leading up to it I should be good. Will probably add miles in to the training though.

The 100 mile race. It's only 35 km longer than the death race so it's very achievable, and there are several more palces for drop bags / aid stations on the course so I think it could be easier to plan nutrition and avoid similar mistakes I made during the death race.

In october I had stated that I planned a certain race calendar for the year which looked like this.

Mar: Half marathon
Mar: Dirty Duo 50 km
Apr: Diez Vista 50 km
May: Unknown
Jun: Scorched sole 50 mile
July: Fat Dog 100 mile
Aug: Stormy 100 mile (or 50)
Sept: Walk in the Park 54 km
Oct: Marathon

This plan seems far too heavy on the ultra races and I think I will burn myself out doing that. And I've decided to avoid long travel distances to get to races in an attempt to save money. So I've come up with a new schedule focusing on local, cheaper races.

Feb 13: 10 km race (Vernon)
Mar 6: 5 km race (Penticton)
Mar 27: half marathon (Kelowna)
April 10: 10 km (Oliver)
May 8: 10 mile (Penticton)
May 22: half marathon (Penticton)
Jun 12: Half Marathon (Summerland)
June 25: Scorched Sole 50 mile (Kelowna)
July 10: 8 km race (Kelowna)
July 23: Fat Dog 100 mile (Manning Park)
Aug 14: 10 km race (Salmon Arm)
Sep 4: Walk in the Park (Kamloops)
Sep 11: 10 km race (Penticton)
Sep 18: 16 km race (Kelowna)
Sept: Salmon Arm X Country
Oct: Summerland X country
Oct 9: Marathon (Kelowna)
Oct: Kelowna X Country
Oct: Penticton X country
Oct: Vernon X country

And for a completely arbitrary total km goal for the year I'm going to try and hit 2400 km for the year in running.

Yep, should be a good year. I think my goals are definitely acheivable.

Nazzer